Track-brace.



' M. P. BARDON.

TRAGK BRAGE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 17. 1908.

925,981 Patented June 22, 1909.

Z SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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UNITE MICHAEL P. BARDON, OF GUERNSEY, CALIFORNIA.

TRACK-B RACE Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed. September 17, 1908.

Patented June 22, 1909.

Serial No. 453,422.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, MICHAEL P. Bnnnon, a citizen of the United States,residing at Guernsey, in the county of Kings and State of California,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in T1'ackl3i'aces, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to railroad tracks and has special reference to adevice for bracing the same.

An object of this invention is the construction of a device that willprevent the creeping of one rail past another causing the ties whichsupport the rail to twist and to weaken the rails if not to loosen themaltogether from the ties.

The invention further designs a brace for railway tracks which is ofsimple construction, and can be readily applied and is very economicalto manufacture.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the followingdescription and it will be understood that changes in the specificstructure shown and described may be made within the scope of the claimswithout departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the drawings forming a portion of this description and in which likenumerals of reference indicate similar parts in the several views,Figure 1 is a top plan view of a section of track having the braceapplied thereto. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section of the same.Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the line 33 of Fig. 1. Fig. i is a topplan view of one of the rods detached. Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view ofthe brace showing a modification of the fastening means for the severalrods. Fig. 6 is a bottom plan view of the same, the lower plate beingremoved.

Referring now to the drawings 10 and 11 designate the rails of arailroad track which are mounted upon the ties 12. Disposedlongitudinally between the rails 10 and 11 are rods 13 and 14: which arediagonally positioned and which engage across one another at theirintermediate portions for the purpose of bracing the rails 10 and 11.The rods 13 and 1 1 are flattened at their intermediate portions to formengaging surfaces through which is passed a locking bolt 15 or any othersuitable means for securing the same. The rods 13 and 1 1 are curvedoutwardly at obtuse angles at their extremities where they are passedthrough apertures formed in the webs of the rails 10 and 11 and upon theouter extremities of which are secured iiuts 16 to rigidly hold theextremities of the rods in engagement with the rails. This engagementwill prevent the creeping of the rails past each other and in order toprevent the possible spreading of the rails 10 and 11 a cross brace 17is employed which comprises a rod 17 which is flattened at itsintermediate portion to engage against the flattened surfaces of therods 13 and 1 1 and which is held across the same by the bolt 15. Therod 17 is provided with shoulders 18 formed upon its oppositeextremities to engage the inner surfaces of the webs to the rails 10 and11 and which has its outer extremities threaded to receive the nuts 19which hold the rails 10 and 11 securely to the rod 17. In themodification shown in Fig. 5 two metallic plates 20 and 21 are employedwhich are positioned one above the intersection of the rods and theother beneath the same through which is passed the clamping bolt 2 forthe purpose of holding the brace in a rigid position. The plate 20 isprovided with depending flanges at the edges thereof which engagebetween the several rods for the purpose of aiding in the securing ofthe same in their relative positions. The lower plate 21 is employed asa clamping plate against which the lower edges of the flanges of theplate 20 impinge.

From the above description it is apparent that the brace is employed byinserting the extremities of the rods 13 and 1a through apertures formedin the webs of the rails 10 and 11 and that the cross rod 17 is likewisesecured. The rods are held in their several positions by the nuts 16 and19 respectively which prevent the rails from creeping past one anotheror to spread. A device of this character adds to the life of the trackand prevents the possibility of accidents which occur from thesedisadvantages.

What is claimed is:

1. A device of the character described comprising two diagonallydisposed rods, a transverse rod disposed across the intermediateportions of said rods and a bolt secured through the intermediateportions of all of said rods for the purpose of holding the same inrigid position.

2. A device of the character described comprising two diagonallydisposed cross rods, flattened portions intermediately disposed abovesaid rods, the extremities of said rods being turned outwardly at rightangles to therails, a transverse rod intermediately disposed across saiddiagonal rods, a shoulder formed above the extremities of saidtransverse rod and nuts secured upon the extremities of all of said rodsfor the purpose of holding the same in position.

3. In a device of the character described the combination with two railsand ties for supporting the same of two rods diagonally disposed betweensaid rails, said rods intersecting at their intermediate portions, atransverse rod disposed across said intermediate portions, a. boltsecured through the intermediate portions of said rods and nuts carriedat the extremities of said rods for the purpose of securing the same tosaid rails.

4. In a device of the character described the combination with two railsand ties for supporting the same of two diagonal cross rods disposedbetween said rails, the outer extremities of said rods being bentoutwardly at right angles to the rails and passed through the rails, atransverse rod disposed across the intermediate intersecting portions ofsaid rods, shoulders formed upon the ends of said transverse rod forabutting against the webs of said rails and nuts secured upon theextremities of all of said rods for the purpose of securing the same tosaid rails.

5. A fastening means for the brace of the character described comprisingan upper metallic plate, a lower metallic plate, a depending flange fromsaid upper plate cut away in sections for the purpose of spacing therods of said brace and a bolt secured through said plates and saidbrace.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

MICHAEL P. BARDON. Witnesses CHARLES E, Morrrrr,

G. H. READ,

